Our RV Adventures

I got an early start because I had a lot of errands to take care of today.

First off, it was rent day, so on my way out of the park I stopped by the office to drop off a check, and also tossed a bag of garbage in the dumpster.

Then it was on to Fry’s Electronics to straighten out a rebate receipt problem, and after that I went up to Sam’s Club to pick up some Joint Juice, and a few other things.

As I was leaving Sam’s I heard from a client who was back in her office, so I drove over to drop off her laptop that I had been fixing a boot problem on.

On my way back toward the rig I stopped by Kroger’s to get some Mega-Millions and PowerBall lotto tickets. and then picked up lunch from Wendy’s. They have a great Spicy Chicken Sandwich, and their new Natural Cut Fries are pretty tasty too.

Later, about 3:30 I drove over to Dickinson to Bay Colony RV Park to pick up a computer from a friend. His son’s computer had contracted a virus and wanted me to take a look at it.

That was about it for today. I’ve posted another day of our visit to Key West in 2009.

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Thought for the Day:
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

Abraham Lincoln __________________________________________________________________

Birthday Wishes and Key Largo Dreams…

Posted on May 19, 2009

First off, Jan and I want to wish our son Christopher a Happy Birthday today.

Jan and I decided to explore back up the Keys today.  We went all the way up to Key Largo and then back down to Key West.  There were several places that we drove by on the way down that we wanted to take a closer look at.

Strangely enough, most of them seemed to be gift shops.

Lunch was at a small but very good Chinese buffet restaurant in Marathon called Panda Cafe.  Really good!

We drove in and out of several rainstorms both up and down the Keys. But it did produce some very pretty pictures.  And the ‘Glades and Keys can certainly use the rain.

One thing we got see on our trip today was ‘Fat Albert’  floating over Cudjoe Key.

‘Fat Albert’ is a 175 foot long helium-filled blimp floating at 10,000 ft.  It is tethered to a pickup truck at the small blimp base on Cudjoe Key.

It is used mainly by NORAD, and the radar  it carries monitors suspected drug smuggling flights, fast boats smuggling Cubans, weather, any low flying plane and other potentially harmful activity.

It is also sometimes used to broadcast ‘TV Marti’, which consists of anti-Castro TV programs beamed toward Cuba.

After we got back we headed down into Key West for another dinner at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  Just as good as last time.

And of course, a few more gift shops had to be visited.

Tomorrow will be our last full day in the Keys before we head north to West Palm Beach on Thursday. We’ve really enjoyed all the sights we’ve seen here in Southern Florida and the Keys.

Here’s a few pics…

Traveler’s Palm

Interesting Hanging Plant

We also saw this interesting lizard while we were at Coral Castle.

Red-headed Agama

This one was about a foot long and I had never seen one like it.

A quick Google told me that it is a Red-headed Agama, native to Africa. It seems that some agamas being kept as pets had escaped and there are now a number of colonies thriving here in South Florida.

When they are in courting mode, the males are even more colorful.

Red-headed Agama in mating garb

We’ve also seen a number of interesting signs.

Looks like this guy has his business plan mapped out.

Yes, there are crocodiles in the Keys. The really scary part about this sign is that there is a 6 ft fence on both sides of the highway for the entire 6 miles.  I’m not sure I want to think about crocodiles that can jump over 6 ft. fences.

And finally, like I needed another reason to eat more Key Lime Pie!

More Later…

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Well, the wind is still blowing like crazy, but it has changed directions. Yesterday before the front got here, the wind was out of the south. This morning when we went out for our walk, the wind was out of the north.

Because it was also low tide, the wind blew water out of the bayou, leaving exposed mudflats. This attracted a lot of seagulls looking for a quick lunch.

It even attracted our old friend the Great Blue Heron that lives in this area.

And along with the wind, the weather has really changed. Yesterday the high was about 75 and the low last night was 41. Then today it got all the way to 55.

But the real change is tonight, with a low of 28 degrees. But at least by Tuesday, it’s supposed to be back in the 70’s again.

Our daughter Brandi sent over this video of Landon being fed his first solid food. She started adding some rice cereal to his formula a couple of weeks ago, but this is his first spoonful of the real thing.

Landon eating his first solid food.

About 2pm Jan and I drove up to Brandi and Lowell’s to take Landon off their hands for a few hours.

After we got him packed into the truck, we drove to Baybrook Mall to pick up some presents, and then down to Garden Ridge where Jan was looking for a vase and some decorations.

While we were there I got these photo of Landon and his big blue eyes.

Leaving Garden Ridge we went by the storage room to pick up some outside Christmas decorations for the rig, and then just drove around for a while until it was time to meet Brandi and Lowell at 5:30 for supper at Floyd’s Cajun Seafood, our favorite local Cajun place.

Although you wouldn’t know it by what everyone ordered. Jan, Brandi, and Lowell all had the Chicken Fried Chicken, while I was the only one who went Cajun with a cup of delicious Chicken and Sausage Gumbo and a grilled Boudin link.

Then reluctantly relinquishing Master Landon to his parents, Jan and I headed back to the rig for the night about 7.

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Thought for the Day:
”If life gives you lemons, and you got melons, you’re dyslexic” – Piper White

Since our good friends Nick and Terry Russell  are thinking about heading to Key West in a few days, I thought I’d repost one of our days in Key West in 2009.

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Old Friends and Good Times…

Posted on May 16, 2009

Our friends showed up about 4:30pm after driving down from West Palm Beach with 5th wheel trailer.  They’re parked about 3 spaces down from us here at the RV park.

As soon as they got settled in, we headed the 10 miles down the road to Key West and sunset on the historic Mallory Square.

Mallory Square

Mallory Square 1

Mallory Square 2

Sunset Dinner Cruise

From where we were on the pier we couldn’t see the sun set directly, but it was beautiful, none the less.

Mallory Square Sunset

After watching the sunset we walked across the street to the world-famous Hogsbreath Saloon. The food was really good and the drinks were great.

Jan had Chicken Tenders and Jalapeno Poppers appetizers, and I had the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. But the drinks were a whole ‘nuther story.

Jan had the GoomBaySmash, which is pineapple juice and coconut milk mixed with Bacardi Coco Rum. It wasn’t long until she feeling very, very good.

And I think my Hogarita was made with rocket fuel. The few times I order a mixed drink I normally complain about the fact that there seems to be little or no alcohol in it.

A couple of weeks Jan and I were eating a Cuban restaurant in Downtown Disney, a commercial shopping/restaurant area that’s not actually part of the Disney theme parks, but owned by them.  Since I had never had one,  I decided to order a Mojito, a drink made with rum, sugar, lime juice, soda, and mint leaves.

And I would swear that this drink had absolutely NO alcohol in it whatsoever.  I mean it was sugar/lime/mint favored, but I might as well have been drinking ice tea, and it would have been a lot cheaper, too.

However I think my Hogarita had my drink’s alcohol in it and two or three other people’s drinks.  I certainly got my money’s worth.

And I’ll just say that I’m glad I wasn’t driving us home.

More tomorrow…